The Colress Machine
by Lazy Merasmus
Summary: After Colress takes off on his own, what does he end up doing? Perhaps you don't want to know. Rater T for language and gore.
1. Chapter 1

_"I always said I had done horrible things in the name of science. I never said I had stopped."_

 _xx-Jan-xxxx Unova Region_

Brushing my hands on my lab coat, I sighed. There was still so much left of my experiment to complete. Not that anything in science is ever truly complete, of course.

When I decided to try my hand at adventuring with my Pokémon, I found that I got bored far too easily. Even catching and evolving them was only interesting for so long. I had spent about a month of my time dedicated solely to understanding this process, but then I was done. I quickly cracked the secret of what so many Pokémon professors tried their whole lives to grasp the basics of. It didn't matter, though. They were all idiots anyways.

Eventually, after a little bit of "soul searching", I decided to come back to experimenting on Pokémon. Not under Team Plasma, of course, and not mind control like I had been doing before. Blegh. I'm no longer really interested in that. No, what I chose to do was something much more medical. It also involved just a little bit more... blood.

"Help!"

I sighed as the noise snapped me out of my inner monologue. The girl was crying out for help again. If she wasn't careful, she would wake the Vivillion I had had imported for my experiments, and that wouldn't be any good. I wasn't exactly rich, so it was being held in a pretty delicate glass container. If it woke up, it would escape. Hell if I know what it would do to the ecosystem in this area.

As I walked over to the room where the girl was being held, I glanced down at the tablet I held in my hands. It didn't look very good for me right now, at least financially. Making a decent living as a scientist was pretty difficult, especially since Officer Jenny had to be kept in the dark about what I was doing. I hadn't bothered to inquire as to whether or not what I was doing was legal, so I kept quiet in order to reduce complications. There was no moral dilemma on my part, despite what the average citizen might think. I do everything for scientific progress, so if it fulfils my criteria, I don't have any qualms with it.

"Please, somebody help!"

She was shouting even more, her voice becoming even more hoarse by the minute.

"Oh, hush, Cythnia," I said, striding into the room confidently, "There's nothing to worry about! I'm not the enemy here. That was Team Plasma, and they are no more. What I'm doing... it's for science. You should be elated, not panicked."

"I'm not elated, idiot, because you kidnapped me on my vacation to Unova!"

"I'm no idiot, just as you are not. We are both extremely intelligent, although my pride insists that I am more intelligent than you."

"Are you _trying_ to be sexist?"

"No more than you are," I replied, "You were simply the most convenient person to use in my initial test. The bonus was that you happened to be one of the most competent people I have ever met, as well as one of the most skilled. The latter comes of you being a former League Champion, I would imagine."

"I'm flattered, but I'm still unnerved, which happens to be pretty far from 'elated'."

"Just relax. Your immense brain power should help you cope with what I'm going to do far more than any sedative."

"Wait," she interjected, "You aren't going to have a Pokémon use Sing or anything like that?"

"Why would I need to? It's much faster without doing that."

With great care, I lifted the massive bell jar that was being used to contain the Vivillion. It stirred, and I froze. Having it escape would be disastrous. Instead of waking, it simply settled its body into a new position on its perch. I released a sigh of relief.

"Now, while I do this, I'll tell you a story," I said.

I grabbed the drowsy Vivillion by its midsection with my right hand, shocking it awake. It tried to escape by fluttering and flapping its powerful wings, but I didn't relent. I'm actually pretty proud that I was able to hold on to it. With my left hand, I held a small, but rather sharp, scalpel.

"In ancient times, before people and Pokémon possessed their current relationship, they had very little biological differences."

Cynthia frowned.

"What does this have to do with anything?"

Rather than answer her question, I just smiled and continued the story.

"Because of this, they were practically one and the same. When I read about this, I thought that perhaps the genetic sequences are still similar enough to work together. That, Cynthia, is where you come in."

Her eyes widened, but not entirely with fear. Mostly, it was of understanding. She was actually able to figure out where I was going with this, and that somewhat surprised me.

With a quick flick of my left hand, I deftly separated the captive Vivillion from its precious set of wings. They fell gently to the floor, all while twitching violently and leaking blood. The Vivillion itself was screeching in pain as it tried to cope with what was happening to it. Thankfully, shock took very little time to set in, and it ceased its horrible crying. I put it back under the bell jar, and then retrieved its powerful wings from the floor. They hadn't stopped bleeding yet.

Somehow, Cythnia looked completely unfazed. I had figured that this would frighten and appall her, but none of it seemed to. After a moment or two, she spoke up.

"So, are you going to get it over with? Some of us want to get out of here."

I grinned, perhaps a little too widely.

"You think you're prepared to deal with what's going to happen, but I promise you this: You cannot even imagine how it will hurt."


	2. Chapter 2

**Just an author's note here! I appreciate the feedback, but please keep anything...** ** _overly_** **critical to yourself. I do possess knowledge of grammar, so that's not really the kind of feedback I need/want. Also, to a certain reviewer, please note that Colress is** ** _not_** **a doctor. He does not know everything that our modern specialised doctors will know. Lastly, I realise the sexist thing was a bit random, and I apologise. Writer's block produces some strange sentences.**

"Just get it over with... whatever your name is," Cynthia said in a bored manner.

"It's Colress," I replied, "I only tell you this because I want you to know my name in the event that this experiment goes... downhill."

She frowned, understanding more or less what I meant.

"Let's hope it doesn't," she said, "At this point, I want to see what happens. You've intrigued me."

I raised an eyebrow. This isn't quite what I expected. Despite my surprise, I didn't pause for more than a few seconds. With wings and scalpel in hand, I flicked on the medical light above the table where Cythnia was tied down. It lit up only the centre of the room, revealing protruding edges and jars to play with the imagination. Shattered glass was piled in ominously in the corner.

"Now we can begin," I announced, probably louder than necessary.

"What are you going to do? _Blind_ me to death?" Cynthia asked sarcastically.

"Funny Cythnia. No, this was the only bulb I had," I replied, "I've been out of money for a while."

"How'd you get the Vivillion, then? Don't tell me you traded away one of your precious Pokémon."

"I'll just say that I currently owe someone quite a bit of money."

She laughed a little bit.

"Who doesn't these days?"

This earned a bit of a smile from me, but it faded as a bit of a realisation hit me. Someone might come looking for the former Champion. I couldn't believe that I of all people hadn't been careful enough. At this point, the only way to know would be to ask her, and I couldn't imagine why she would tell me the truth.

"You said you were on vacation," I said, "Were you with anyone?"

"What's with this sudden concern for my social affairs?" Cynthia replied.

She gave me a strange look when she said this. It seemed to be full of many things, but mostly fear and confusion. Sarcasm must be her way of dealing with it. I mentally took note of this, expecting that it might be useful later if the experiment succeeds.

"Anyway, why would I tell you anything?" She asked.

I slammed my hands on the table.

"Quit stalling, Cynthia! I need answers, and I need them _right now_. I can't do this if someone is wondering where you are!"

I inhaled sharply, knowing I had screwed up. She would have no reason to tell me the truth, not now.

"I'll tell you," she said to my surprise, "If you tell me one thing."

"Damn it! What do you want to know?"

My anger was beginning to surface, which hadn't happened for years. She sure had a way of getting under my skin.

"Calm down, Colress. I just want to know what kind of science you do."

My anger dissipated almost instantly. No one had ever cared to ask me that before.

"It's mostly mechanical and electrical engineering, actually. I did a little bit of biology in school, but not much. I wish I had done more. I loved it so much."

My whole body had relaxed, and so had hers. This was perfect, as I had just remembered from my biology course that a flood of adrenaline was bad when it came to experimental surgery. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember how long it took the adrenaline to drain from the body, so I would either have to keep her relaxed by chatting, or I would just have to risk failure. Any normal person likely would have picked the first option, but I was in a unique situation. I was low on both money and time, meaning I just had to finish this as soon as possible.

"So, is anyone with you?" I asked coolly.

"Yes," she replied, equally coolly, "Another Champion. But he won't be back for a long time."

My eyebrow practically raised itself this time. However, as intrigued as I was, I had to proceed right then and there.

"Now, Cynthia. Just close your eyes and relax. I promise this won't take too long."

At this point, it looked like the reality of the situation had finally sunken in for her. This was going to happen, and there was no way out of it. With what appeared to be a feeling of loss and despair that she was no doubt unused to, she closed her eyes.

Carefully, I set down the pair of Vivillion wings and my scalpel and readied a pair of scissors. With one hand, I pushed down gently on Cythnia's back. With the other, I began to cut away the clothing around her upper back and shoulder blades. This was also done with care, as I had no wish to expose her in any unfit way. I wasn't a monster.

The soft black fabric came away with surprising ease, leaving a properly large patch of skin exposed for the procedure. After disposing of the patch I had cut off, I grabbed a roll of plastic and a roll of duct tape. I was no doctor, so I decided to go about this much in the same way as one would paint a machine. Over the fabric of her shirt, I placed the plastic in a sheet and cut out a hole in the same shape and size as the exposed skin. I taped it down with the duct tape, and then I was ready. I could begin the procedure now that the blood wouldn't go everywhere.

I picked up both the scalpel and the pair of wings once again, and I began to proceed with the experiment.


	3. Chapter 3

Mentally, I marked where on her back I would be creating the incision. I couldn't find my permanent markers anywhere. Using my mind was almost a good, though, as I had learned in the past. With the precision of an officially licensed surgeon who had actually been through medical school, I pressed the scalpel into the skin between Cynthia's shoulder blades. I could here the hiss of air through pressed teeth coming from her mouth. The metal slipped right through her skin, but not into the muscle. Blood poured from the open wound, obstructing my view of the surrounding derma. I looked around with an air of calm, despite feeling slightly anxious. As it happened, I hadn't set out any kind of cloth, so I decided to wipe the blood away with the back of my hands.

After a few moments, I was able to set the scalpel aside and pull open the newly cut flaps of skin. This prompted a new rush of thick red blood from the wound. I would have to be faster. With the backs of both my hands covered in still-wet blood, I had to resort to something else: my lab coat. It would be disgusting, but I didn't have much of a choice. With a sigh, I placed the elbow of my left sleeve into the pooling blood.

Cynthia moaned agonisingly, shifting around what muscles she could in pain. It seemed as though she couldn't do much else.

"Stay still!" I hissed.

She obeyed, knowing it would hurt less if she was still. I didn't care about that. I just cared about being able to cut and sew straight. It wouldn't work if the stitches were crooked.

Once the fabric of my lab coat was absorbing more blood than was spilling out, I grabbed my scalpel once more. A small incision in the muscle would cause a fusion of the different tissues. Doing so caused more than a bit of bleeding, but at this point, it didn't matter as much. I was almost done.

Pulling the muscle apart, I was barely able to fit the base muscle tissue of the Vivillion wings inside the cavity. While it was a rather tight fit, it was a fit nonetheless. On Cynthia's neck, I could see the muscles tightened up like rubber bands, meaning she was clenching her jaw as hard as she could.

 _Pfft. Whatever you have to do to stay still._

Wiping the blood again, I picked up a tool set. Staring at the various instruments, I realised that I really needed to upgrade my selection. There were hardly any materials left for stitches, so it was possible that I would have to cauterise what I couldn't sew. How frustrating. Despite this, I decided to proceed as quickly as possible.

From the kit, I pulled out a cheap electro-cauterisation tool. It was caked with burnt skin and hardened blood, giving off a rather sickening smell. In fact, it was putrid. I covered my nose. By turning on the tool as I did in the next couple of seconds, the acrid smell became even worse. It mixed with the smell of burning flesh, eliciting coughing and hacking from both me and Cynthia. It felt like acid in my throat, and tears ran from my eyes. I pulled the collar of my thick shirt up over my nose and mouth, and the pain subsided.

Cynthia struggled as the tool proceeded to reach its hottest point, no doubt giving off a smell much worse than moments before. The previous filth had fallen off the tool in a small pile on the floor. She was tensing all her muscles, and spit was dripping from the corner of her mouth. She looked, for lack of a better word, frazzled. If I looked just at her face, it was like she had been up all night studying for final exams in college, just much dirtier. I would likely have to clean her up afterwards, and that would be a pain. Another sigh escaped my mouth.

With hands at the ready, I pulled her skin together and traced the tool across both sides of the surgical wound. She trembled and emitted a screech as the bloody edges were united via her own scorched flesh. I made a mental note to invest in some earplugs later on.

Normal human medicine wouldn't be able to heal a wound like this, even with stitches or cauterisation. Thankfully, I had the medicinal chemicals typically used on Pokémon at my disposal. I had... acquired... a Super Potion from the nearest Pokémart. If my calculations were correct, and I assumed they were, albeit risky, pouring it over the burnt and bloody mess I had made of Cynthia's back should be able to push forth recovery. If she were to drink it, however, the wings, being foreign cell tissue, could be rejected in the body's healing process, and that would get nasty.

"Alright, Cynthia," I said to her, "Are you still awake?"

She grunted.

"Barely. I kind of wish I had passed out a while ago."

"Good, good. I'm almost done. As a warning, this last part of the procedure only has about a 2% chance of success, and it may hurt more than the other parts of the procedure."

She laughed.

"Hah, hurt more? Is that even possible? You just sliced through my bare skin with a rusty blade and then burnt it."

Admittedly, I admired her stoic humour and sarcasm. I hardly found myself admiring much of anything outside the realm of science, so I was surprised by my own thoughts. With a shake of the head, I pushed those thoughts out of my mind. This was neither the right time, nor the right person. This was, however, the right time to finish up the experiment, lest the subject perish.

 **I hope you guys are enjoying this! Sorry about the long gap in between chapters, by the way. I hit a bit of a mental brick wall.**


End file.
